Culture
The “HERE” and “THERE” sculptures on the Oakland-Berkeley border have become the site of a dispute between the City of Berkeley and an anonymous group of guerilla knitters, who have created a “T cozy” over part of the sculpture. On Sunday, the group held a “T party” to bring attention to their piece.
It’s been a little over a year since the Fox Theatre in downtown Oakland reopened, and since then it has gained a reputation for front-lining all the top rock bands touring today: Wolfmother, Monsters of Folk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Decemberists, just to name a few. On Wednesday night, the crowd lined up early to come see the National, a melodic indie band that has been steadily building a loyal audience over the past few years and now is capturing mainstream attention.
Jon’s Street Eats is one of a new series of food trucks popping up all over the East Bay serving innovative street food — in this case, gourmet grub like grilled asparagus, butterscotch pudding and panko-coated mac and cheese. As Oakland-based chef Jon Kosorek puts it: “There’s not a lot of places where you can get hand-pulled mozzarella. I would never be able to do a hot dog cart with just boiled hot dogs. I’d go crazy.”
What’s behind the popularity of red velvet cake? Is it the texture, enhanced by the chemistry of buttermilk? The cream cheese frosting? Or perhaps, it’s the color red. Anrica Deb explores the food science behind the cupcake craze.
Something has recently changed in South Berkeley—big colorful paintings are popping up in formerly vacant storefront windows. They were all made by low-income youth, mostly from Oakland, paid to paint by an organization called Youth Spirit Artworks — an organization that hires teens to beautify local neighborhoods.
If you’ve ever walked through the parking lot at Oakland’s Rockridge BART late on a Thursday night, you may have seen a group of raucous twenty- and thirtysomethings yelling and drinking beer. But they’re not a bunch of hooligans — they are out there playing a friendly game of four square.
It’s rose season — and to celebrate this perennial, on Sunday the East Bay Rose Society held its 63rd rose show at Oakland’s Lakeside Garden Center at Lake Merritt.
“What does the world need now?” This question is being posed to kids all over the East Bay, and Oakland’s Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA) wants their answers in the form of paintings, drawings, photographs or even sculptures.
They say that running barefoot is like gardening naked in the backyard: it’s not for all seasons, and your neighbors will probably stare. But is this trend only for the serious runner, or is this an opportunity for the rest of us to kick our Nikes to the corner? Mary Flynn has the story.